1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a system and method for cutting soluble scintillator material. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a system and method for slicing, shaping and otherwise cutting soluble scintillator materials using sensed feedback resulting in optimized speed and minimized kerf.
2. Background of Related Art
Soluble crystal scintillator materials are widely used in radiation detection devices, such as gamma cameras of nuclear medicine radioisotope imaging. In particular, scintillator crystals are utilized in emission computed tomography (e.g., single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET)). The SPECT and PET techniques involve injection of radiotracer molecules which emit gamma radiation. The gamma radiation is then collected via specialized gamma-ray detectors which include scintillator crystals. The collected radiation data is then analyzed to construct two-dimensional and/or three-dimensional images of the irradiated region.
The gamma-ray detectors utilized in emission computed tomography systems employ a wide variety of geometric configurations of scintillator crystals. Consequently, the scintillator crystals must be cut, sliced and otherwise shaped into a wide variety of shapes (e.g., rectangular cylindrical, having cuts, slits and/or notches partially through the crystals, etc.) to achieve the desired configuration.
Prior art systems for cutting and shaping scintillator crystals include metal band saws and filament saws. Band saws create straight cuts with wide kerfs. Furthermore, the metal teeth chip the scintillator crystal as well as create sharp and/or jagged edges along a kerf that chips and may break away during use of the scintillator materials. The prior art cutting methods of utilizing filament saws suffered from poor feedback control. In particular, prior art scintillator filament saws utilizing filament deflection feedback as a sole means of controlling the cutting process adjusted filament deflection based on the inhomogeneity of the scintillator crystalline structure. Hence, the adjustments to the cutting process resulting in a kerf that exceeded the optimal size. Therefore, there is a need for a feedback control system for adjusting the cutting motion of scintillator filament saws which allows for smooth kerfs of desired size.